Repetitive inspection system with intelligent tools

ABSTRACT

An automatic system for illuminating, inspecting and measuring stents and other precision cut tubes and components made of a: a linear array electronic camera with a lens, a light source to provide necessary illumination to create an image on said linear array camera, mandrel onto which the tube is mounted during inspection, a rotary stage for rotating the mandrel, and a computer based electronic imaging system that creates a line-by-line image of stent as it rotates under said camera.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application No.09/842,579, filed Apr. 26, 2001, which claimed the benefit of U.S.provisional patent application No. 60/201,791, filed May 4, 2000, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by referencethereto.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This invention relates to an automatic system for illuminating,inspecting and measuring objects, such as cardiovascular stents andother precision cut tubes and components, for the purpose of maintainingquality control.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Stents are small, intricately cut tubes, generally made ofmaterials such as stainless steel. Cardiovascular stents, arepermanently placed in a blood vessel to act as scaffolding to keep anoccluded artery open. In use, cardiovascular stents are inserted intothe artery on a catheter and are typically deployed by expanding a verysmall balloon at the end of the catheter upon which the stent ismounted.

[0004] Cardiovascular stents must meet stringent requirements to workproperly. If the stent contains any rough or sharp edges, it will damageblood cells or the blood vessel in which it is inserted. This can leadto further atherosclerotic plaquing, emboli or thrombi, and result inpotentially life threatening situations. This invention relates to anillumination and inspection system for stents, and other similar partsthat take the form of a small precisely machined tube. This inventionalso relates to image processing software techniques optimized forinspection of such tubes as well as a wide variety of other parts withhighly repetitive features.

[0005] Lasers are typically used to cut stents. This process, whilehighly precise, can occasionally produce defective parts. Stents tend tobe fairly small, with diameters approximating 1 mm. After processing,the individual cut features on a stent range from 50 to 200 microns insize. Accordingly, small changes in manufacturing process parameterssuch as laser power, tubing diameter, or mechanical jitter can causedefects. Such defects may include an out of tolerance feature size or amalformed feature.

[0006] Since stents are used in the heart and other critical areas ofblood flow, a failure in the function of the stent could be lifethreatening. Thus, manufacturers of stents typically employ 100%inspection procedures. A human operator utilizing a 50× optical powerstereo-microscope typically inspects for visual defects. Dimensionalinspection is typically done by a human operator utilizing a ProfileProjector, such as the V-12 made by Nikon Inc. of Japan. Alternatively,this inspection can be done automatically by utilizing a vision systemsuch as the SmartScope made by Optical Gauging Products of Rochester,N.Y., or the Ram Optical OMIS made by Newport Corp. of Irvine, Calif.

[0007] The problems associated with either the manual or automaticapproaches to inspection are numerous. First, human error makes visualinspection of products less than completely effective. Also, such manualinspection is relatively slow and thus a relatively costly aspect of themanufacturing process. Furthermore, the pass/fail criteria of theprofile projector using overlays, as is typically employed in manualinspection, does not generally provide any numeric dimensional data thatwould otherwise be useful for process control.

[0008] While the possibility exists to employ automated systems,automated vision systems also have similar and other problems. First,the use of automated vision systems, like human inspection, tends to beslow. Such systems utilize a standard NTSC RS-170 style video camerathat images a flat field onto the sensor. Since stents are cylindricallyshaped, only a small section of the stent can be in focus at any onetime. Also, since stents tend to be long and thin, a camera can onlyview a small section of the stent at sufficient magnification toeffectively perform inspection. Typically, inspection with these systemsinvolves programming the system to move up and down the length of astent mounted on a mandrel. Such inspection involves looking at a smallfield of view, usually approximately 2 mm at a time. After inspectingthe length of the stent, it is then rotated on a mandrel and the processis repeated. This can result in inspection cycle times of ten minutes ormore.

[0009] In addition to problems in speed, these vision systems also havedifficulty with accuracy. Because stents are electro-polished afterbeing laser cut, the surfaces of the stent have a highly reflectivemirrorlike finish, and rounded contours. Current illumination systemseither use a fiber optic ring light or a sapphire rod or “mandrel” whichacts as a backlight. Since the stents are highly reflective, intense hotspots and glare on the image can cause false or inaccurate measurements.In an attempt to overcome this problem, sapphire rod illuminators havebeen employed. Such rods are first frosted to provide an even diffusesurface. The ends of the rod are optically polished to allow light,typically from a fiber optic bundle, to enter either end of the rod. Thetubular stent is placed on this rod and the rod acts like a backlightsource.

[0010] While, overall, the sapphire rod approach probably results in animprovement over the results obtainable with a ring light, sapphire rodilluminators have their own set of problems. To a camera looking down,the stent appears dark against the bright background of the sapphiremandrel. One problem that frequently occurs due to the highly polishedsurface and curved profile of the stent, or if the stent has slantingside walls, is that the walls themselves can be illuminated and appearas bright as the background sapphire which in turn makes the stentappear smaller than it actually is. This error can be as much as 25microns, the manufacturing tolerance band for many stents.

[0011] In addition to measuring the width of a stent section, commonlyknown as a strut, stent manufacturers also measure the wall thickness ofthe stent at various locations along its length. Current manual andautomatic systems can be used to measure wall thickness, but problemsarise in the accuracy and repeatability of the current methods. A visionsystem can look at the edge of the sidewall of a stent and measure itswidth. Again glare and uneven illumination from a fiber optic ring lightmake it difficult to properly image a stent. On densely cut stents itcan be hard to find an area on the stent that is open enough to view thesidewall while looking down on stent along its length.

[0012] Contact methods utilizing a micrometer are also generallyproblematic for measuring wall thickness. Stent features are quite smalland the micrometer is a handheld device more readily used for measuringlarger parts. Again this is a time consuming manual method and wouldbenefit from automation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention provides a faster and more accurateinspection tool to determine the quality of stents and other precisioncut tubes. Specifically, this invention provides a means to scan a stentin a continuous manner so as to create a flattened image of a small,cylindrically shaped, precision cut tube, very quickly by utilizing theinventive optimal lighting system to create these images. The presentinvention is comprised of an electronic camera, a rotary stage whichreceives a mandrel, an illumination source to illuminate the tube underinspection, and a computer based imaging system. The camera comprises alens and at least one photodetector. The camera's lens is configured anddimensioned for focusing an image of a precision cut tube on thephotodetector(s).

[0014] The rotary stage is designed to accept a mandrel, in thepreferred embodiment the mandrel is made of a translucent material, suchas sapphire. The mandrel is designed to accept a precision cut tube tobe inspected by the camera. To accomplish this objective, the rotarystage is positioned such that the mandrel is in the field of view of thecamera's lens. Additionally, in the preferred embodiment the rotarystage is motor driven.

[0015] The illumination system is comprised of at least onesubstantially linear light source disposed substantially along thelength of the mandrel, such that light emitted from the linear lightsource is directed through the mandrel in the direction of the imaginglens.

[0016] The computer based electronic imaging system is functionallyconnected to the camera, and uses the measurements obtained from thecamera to create a line-by-line image of the tube as the tube rotates onthe mandrel under the camera. Additionally, an encoder functionallyconnected to the rotary stage and the computer system can be utilized.The encoder creates pulses as the rotary stage rotates. These pulses aretransferred to and counted by the computer system which uses them toprecisely trigger a line-by-line creation of an image of the tube.Furthermore, the computer based electronic imaging system can analyzethe image produced by the computer and determines the conformance of thetube to known dimensional tolerances or analyze the image for cosmeticand functional defects.

[0017] To obtain measurement data about cut features and cosmeticattribute information for a cut tube, this invention coupled with asoftware pattern recognition system that can simplify the programmingfor an individual cut tube by means of finding repetitive patterns. Theimage is analyzed by an operator selecting a recurring pattern set inthe image of the tube. Then the user selects one pattern within thepattern set as an anchor pattern. He then sets virtual vision tools atspecific locations within the image. The computer software then findsthe anchoring pattern on the image, and from there iteratively examinesareas adjacent to the anchor pattern until all areas of the image areexamined.

[0018] A further objective of this invention is to provide a means tomeasure the wall thickness by an automatic and highly accurate contactmethod. The wall thickness of a tube is measured by disposing at leasttwo electronic linear position displacement transducers directlyopposing each other and centered about the tube placed on a mandrel. Thetransducers contact and exert pressure on the wall of the tube. Thecomputer takes the positions of the transducers, and calculates theaverage wall thickness of the tube by taking one half the absolutedifference between the displacements of the transducers when each is incontact with the mandrel compared to the displacements of thetransducers when each is in contact with the tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019]FIG. 1 illustrates the inventive inspection system;

[0020]FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the inventivesystem with a broad, lateral lighting system;

[0021]FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the inventivesystem with a pinpoint, lateral lighting system;

[0022]FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the inventivesystem with a dual, opposing pinpoint lateral lighting system;

[0023]FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the inventivesystem with a pinpoint lateral lighting system and a beamsplitter forillumination of the top surface;

[0024]FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment with mechanical meansto measure wall thickness of a stent;

[0025]FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a close-up view of the probe stentpositions;

[0026]FIG. 8 illustrates a flat, unrolled view of a stent with patternelements of the stent design, and software created graphicrepresentation of these patterns;

[0027]FIGS. 9A - 9D illustrate video caliper tool to be used on a stentpattern element to designate the measurement sites;

[0028] FIGS. 10 - 13 illustrate automated stent pattern recognitionperformed by the computer; and

[0029]FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of the computer system operations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] Referring to FIG. 1, the inventive inspection system 10 allowsone to more accurately and more quickly inspect stents 12, otherprecision cut metal tubes, and similar objects for dimensionalconformance to a manufacturing specification and verify the overallquality of stent 12.

[0031] Most specifically, FIG. 1 shows a stent inspection system 10.First, stent 12 to be inspected, is mounted on a translucent sapphirerod or mandrel 14. This rod is best made of sapphire due to thestructural rigidity of sapphire and the suitability of sapphire to beingmachined, although other translucent materials can be utilized withvarying results. The sapphire rod is then fine ground to an even frostedfinish. The sapphire rod is then mounted in a highly concentric bushing.The bushing should be concentric to the rod within 0.0002 of an inch.The assembly of the rod and bushing is referred to herein as mandrel 14.For the system to work properly, mandrel 14 must be assembled quiteprecisely. The total indicated run-out of the rod to the bushing shallbe less than 0.001 of an inch per inch of rod length.

[0032] This bushing is then mounted on a rotary stage 18. Rotary stage18 should be highly precise with a total indicated run-out of 0.0002 ofan inch or less. Rotary stage 18 should use a quick load and unloaddevice so that mandrel 14 can be readily changed. One approach is to usea standard 5C collet available from Hardinge Co. An alternative andpreferable approach is to design rotary stage 18 with an air drivencollet 16. Either way the centrality of mandrel 14 to rotary stage 18 iscritical and should be held to 0.0005 of an inch or better. In thepreferred embodiment, rotary stage 18 is motorized and rotated at aconstant velocity.

[0033] Mandrel 14 is loaded into a collet 16 so that it is preciselycentered to the central turning axis of a rotary stage 18. A fiber opticlight line 20 is used to illuminate mandrel 14 to view stent 12.

[0034] A lens 22 transfers the illuminated image of stent 12 to camera24. A linear CCD array sensor 26 within camera 24 records thetransferred image. Lens 22 should have a very low degree of distortionto preserve system measurement accuracy. The preferred embodiment uses acustom designed telocentric lens manufactured by J. E. Sill ofWendelstein, Germany. A telocentric lens is preferred because suchlenses generally provide more accurate measurements than non-telocentriclenses. Such lenses are available from J.E. Sill of Wendelstein,Germany. The design of lens 22 has a distortion specification of lessthan 0.05%, a magnification of 1.33× and can image a 40 mm field of viewonto the 60 mm line of the camera array.

[0035] A linear array camera 24, such as the model CL-C8 line scancamera made by Dalsa Inc., of Waterloo Ontario, Canada, is used to imagestent 12. This camera has a linear array of a single row of 6000 pixels,and 10 micron square charge coupled device pixels. Additionally, thismodel has anti-blooming circuitry that prevents bright areas of theimage from washing into darker areas of the image and compromisingdimensional measurements. Best focus of camera 24 is achieved by movingcamera 24 up and down on a z-axis positioning stage 28.

[0036] Rotary stage 18, with mandrel 14, and camera 24 and the assemblyassociated with lens 22 are mounted on a three axis stage 30. In thepreferred embodiment, three axis stage 30 is motorized. Rotary stagesare available from such companies as New England AffiliatedTechnologies, of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Rotary stage 18 is mounted sothat the axis of mandrel 14 is parallel to the X-axis line of motion, asillustrated. A three axis positioning stage 30 centers stent 12 undercamera 24. Stage 30 is comprised of an X axis stage 32 slidingly mountedon rails 34 and 36. Rails 34 and 36 are disposed on the top surface of aY axis stage 38, as illustrated in the figure. Y axis stage 38 isslidingly mounted on rails 40 and 42 which are disposed on the topsurface of three axis positioning stage 30.

[0037] Ultimately, the purpose of the inventive system, as set forthherein, extends to measuring the dimensions of various cut features onstent 12 to a high degree of accuracy. To do this it is necessary torelate the size of each pixel in the image to the actual size of thearea that the pixel sees on stent 12. In other words, it is necessary toknow the magnification of the optical system to determine the“pixel-to-inch ratio”. Once this ratio is determined, one then simplycounts the number of pixels along the length of a feature to bemeasured. Next the ratio is used to convert this known number of pixelsto a dimension in some unit of measure, typically inches or millimeters.

[0038] To calibrate this system and determine the pixel-to-inch ratio westart with a calibration standard of known size. For this we use aprecision cut tube of appropriate diameter to fit on a sapphire mandrel14. A calibration laboratory has independently measured this tube andits measurement is traceable to the National Institute of Standards andTechnology. The calibration tube is rotated under camera 24 and lens 22and an image is generated. The area of the image occupied by thecalibration tube will be dark, while the area of the uncovered mandrel14 will be bright. By counting the number of dark pixels along thelength of the area of the image occupied by the calibration tube anddividing this by the known length of the tube the pixel-to-inchcalibration factor is now determined. This will allow the system toaccurately measure any feature of stent 12 under inspection in thedirection of the linear length of camera, which direction may bereferred to as the X-axis of the image.

[0039] Measurements on images are ideally done with images that arecomprised of square pixels. To generate measurements along the Y-axis ofthe image the encoder pulses of rotary stage 18 are used to generaterelatively square pixels. The system software requires that an operatorenter the actual diameter of stent 12 being inspected. From thisdiameter the circumference is readily calculated by multiplying thediameter by π. Since it is known that there are 360,000 encoder countsover the entire circumference of stent 12, one can then calculate howmany encoder counts are needed to achieve substantially square pixels.The formula to determine this is: number of encodercounts=(pixel-to-inch) 360,000/(πDiameter), that is: N=360,000 P/πD;where N is the number of encoder counts, P is the number of pixels perinch and D is the diameter. However, since one must use a whole numberof encoder counts, this number is rounded to the nearest whole number.One then calculates the pixel to inch ratio in the Y-axis to be equal tonumber of encoder counts which is equal to πD/360,000.

[0040] When assessing accuracy of the system, one of the best standardsis measurements made on a toolmaker's microscope with at least a 50×objective used by an experienced operator with sub-stage illumination.By utilizing only sub-stage lighting any variability or inaccuratereadings caused by false reflections or glare from the surface of thehighly polished stent are eliminated. Stent 12 is also measured in afree state without a sapphire mandrel 14.

[0041] To insure that the invention presently described can producesimilar measurements, one illuminates mandrel 14 with a light directedat mandrel 14 substantially from below mandrel 14. A fiber optic line 20approximately the same length as mandrel 14 can be placed substantiallyin line with and directly under the sapphire rod directing light uptowards camera 24. A model DCR II 150 watt tungsten halogen lightsource, available from Schott-Fostec of Auburn, N.Y. is used toilluminate fiber optic light line 20.

[0042] By directing the light from directly under the sapphire, ameasurement made on part features will approximate a total-light-blockedtype of reading with the sapphire being bright and stent 12 featurestotally blocking the light produced by fiber optic light line 20. As theangle of the light incident to the sapphire rod moves away from directlybelow the rod the sidewalls of the cut part features can start toilluminate and blend in with bright background of the sapphire rodessentially making the size of stent 12 features appear smaller. The onebenefit of increasing this angle is that the background image of mandrel14 becomes more uniform and reduces shadows in the image. The featuresof stent 12 that pass between the light source and the mandrel 180degrees away from the area being viewed by camera 24 form these shadows.

[0043] One disadvantage of having fiber optic light line 20 directlyunderneath mandrel 14 is that it makes it difficult to load and unloadstents 12 on mandrel 14. To create some space for one's fingers to loadand unload a stent 12, FIG. 2 shows fiber optic light line 20 setfurther away from mandrel 14. A pair of cylindrical lenses 44 collectlight from light line 20 and direct it towards a 45-degree mirror 46,which reflects it towards stent 12 mounted on mandrel 14. If the focallength of cylindrical lenses 44 is chosen to image a thin line of lightemitted from fiber optic light line 20 onto mandrel 14, an image ofstent 12 is transferred by lens 22 to camera 24.

[0044] Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a point source of lightcould be used to generate the appropriate beam profile of illuminationat a mandrel 114. A single fiber optic bundle 120 is one example of apoint source that emits light in a circularly expanding beam. A firstcylindrical lensl44 focuses the light in the vertical direction. Asecond cylindrical lens 148 focuses the light in a horizontal direction.After being focused by each lens the light reflects off a mirror 146 andthen illuminates mandrel 114. The focal length of each of the lenses ischosen such that a line of light is formed on the center of mandrel 114.Mandrel 114 creates a bright backlight to image a stent 112 againthrough lens 122 to camera 124.

[0045] The previous figures all describe an illumination system wheremandrel 212 is illuminated and stent 212 is dark in silhouette againstthe bright background of mandrel 214. FIG. 4 illustrates a lightingconfiguration that reverses this image. A stent 212 here appears brightagainst a dark mandrel 214. Since stent 212 is highly polished, the bestimage is obtained with a broad diffuse illumination source. FIG. 4 showsa milky white plastic plate 248 which is illuminated by a fiber opticbundles 220. Light from diffuse plate 248 is reflected off the surfaceof a stent 212 to a camera 224 through lens 222.

[0046] Another problem related to illuminating from below is some cuttubes are relatively thick and the cuts in them are relatively thin. Incases such as this the light to the sapphire rod might be completelyblocked by the cut tube, or at least insufficient to make a qualityimage. In this case illuminating from above is preferred. The challengewith illuminating stent from above is that they are highly polished. Thepresent invention creates a highly uniform image by the use of thefollowing optical configuration as shown in FIG. 4. A diffuseilluminating source 248 is brought up to the side of stent 212 underinspection. This diffuse illuminator is in a rectangular shape with thelonger portion of the rectangle along the length of the sapphire rod.This diffuse rectangle is placed fairly close, within 1 mm, to thesapphire rod in a plane generally parallel to a plane formed by the lineof the camera array, and the line of the sapphire rod. The bottom of thediffuse reflector is aligned generally along the line of the sapphirerod.

[0047] The diffuse reflector disclosed tends to brightly and evenlyilluminate half of a highly reflective cylindrical shaped part such asstent 212 mounted on mandrel 214. To make sure the very top of stent 212is evenly illuminated, a beamsplitter is placed directly over stent 212at a 45 degree angle. Light from the rectangular diffuse illuminatorreflects off the beamsplitter and down on stent 212. The camera looksthrough the beamsplitter to image stent 212. This arrangement provideshighly diffuse and bright illumination for top-center illumination. Thisillumination provides an image that is useful for dimensionalinspection, and for performing a visual or defect analysis of thesurface of stent 212.

[0048] Certain defects that occur on these parts can be best seen whenthe sidewalls of stent 212 are clearly viewed. The present invention hasan excellent capability for viewing these sidewalls. By moving thelinear array camera slightly off the optical axis by as little as 0.010of an inch the sidewalls of the cuts in a metal tube can be effectivelyimaged.

[0049] If camera 224 is moved away from the absolute center of mandrel214 the image will start to contain views of the sidewall. So that viewsof the sidewalls can be obtained from either side of stent 212, a pairof diffusing illuminators 248 is placed on either side of stent 212along with a pair of fiber optic bundles 220. While two diffuseilluminators 248 effectively illuminate the surface of a stent 212, athin band of stent 212 directly at the top-center of stent 212 is notwell illuminated. Image analysis software can then be used to finddefects with this image.

[0050]FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment that will present an evenlyilluminated view of the top-center of a stent 312. A fiber optic bundle320 directs light at a diffuse illuminating panel 348. The light fromdiffusing panel 348 is directed by a beamsplitter 350 down onto stent312. Beamsplitter 350 is placed at approximately 45 degrees and reflectsand transmits light equally. Light that reflects off stent 312 passesback through beamsplitter 350 towards lens 322. Lens 322 then focuses animage of stent 312 onto camera 324.

[0051] The preferred embodiment thus far been described as havingutility to measure width of cut features on parts such as stents. Stentmanufacturers also require tight tolerances on the width of the walls ofthese parts. This system presently described can measure wall thicknessin two different ways. FIG. 6 illustrates a mechanical means to measurewall thickness. As will be described in greater detail below, thepreferred method is to use two opposing contact gauges 452 and 454 withprecision carbide contact points 456 and 458. These contact gauges aremounted on a single axis linear stage so that wall thickness can bemeasured at various points along the length of stent 412.

[0052] Two such linear displacement transducers, as manufactured byHeidenhain Corporation of Germany, are placed at right angles to thesapphire rod. On either side of a stent 412, which is mounted on amandrel 414 are two contact probes 452 and 454 that electronically senseposition. Contact probes 452 (Broad tipped probe) and 454 (fine tippedcontact probe) are brought into contact with stent 412 by pneumaticactivators 460 and 462. These transducers are accurate to within0.000010 of an inch. On tip 452 of one transducer is a flat contact tip456 of a diameter of 0.125 of an inch. This is the reference transducer.On the tip of the other transducer 454 is a conical shaped tip with afine point 458 that has an approximate diameter of 0.005 of an inch.This is the measurement transducer.

[0053] When activated, probes 452 and 454 are brought into contact withstent 412. The position of probes 452 and 454 are electronically read bycomputer system 464 from the Heidenhain transducers, as shown in FIG.7B.

[0054] Probes 452 and 454 are then shifted linearly along the axis ofstent 412 by a stage 430 so that when brought together fine tippedcontact probe 454 will be in contact with mandrel 414, about which thestent is tightly fitted. Broad tipped probe 452 remains broadly incontact with stent 412 at the outside of the stent as illustrated in thefigures at approximately 180 degrees from fine tipped contact probe 454.The difference between the readings of fine tipped probe 454 and broadtipped probe 452, both of which readings are taken with respect to thecentral axis of the mandrel, is the wall thickness at the pointcontacted by fine tipped probe 454, where the tip of fine tipped probe454 contacts the mandrel. Where there is no contact with the mandrel,the thickness of a feature contacted may be calculated. FIG. 7Aillustrates this probe stent arrangement in a close-up view. FIG. 7Billustrates fine tipped probe 458 in contact with a part feature onstent 412.

[0055] In operation, both transducers are pneumatically operated andmove towards stent 412. Reference transducer 452 presses against oneside of stent 412 and provides a reference position. Second transducer454 with conical tip 458, the measurement transducer, is brought incontact with the site on stent 12 to be measured. The distance betweentwo contact tips 456 and 458 is then recorded by the system. Nextopposing contact tips 456 and 458 are pneumatically retracted. Thesingle axis stage 430 upon which the transducers are mounted is thenshifted slightly to the position the operator selected adjacent to thewall thickness measurement site where there is no part material so thatthe measurement transducer 454 can then contact the sapphire roddirectly. The distance between two contact tips 456 and 458 is thenrecorded. The resulting difference between the first measurement and thesecond is the wall thickness.

[0056] This approach provides a ‘single-ended’ measurement; meaning thewall thickness of stent 412 is measured only on one side of stent 412. Asimpler approach involves using two 0.125 of an inch contact probes thatare first brought up against the mandrel to determine the thickness ofthe sapphire rod. Next stent 412 is mounted on the mandrel. The twocontact probes 456 and 458 are then brought up against stent 412. Thedifference between the two measurements is a ‘double-ended’ reading oftwo sidewalls taken together.

[0057] An alternative, but often less advantageous approach is to rotatestent 412, and thus those features of stent 412 where a wall thicknessmeasurement is to be obtained, ninety degrees from the focal axis ofcamera 424. The system can then scan camera 424 across this area lookingdown on it to generate an image of the wall in cross section. Edgedetection can then be used to make a wall thickness measurement. Thisapproach can be problematic if stent 412 is fairly densely cut and makesit hard to obtain a sidewall view.

[0058]FIG. 8 relates to the software control of the system. A flatunrolled view of a stent is shown at reference numeral 512. An operatoruses a mouse on the screen to bound and select the various patterns thatwill be used to program the system during an inspection. When aprogrammed inspection routine is created for a particular part, theperson writing that routine identifies a number of areas on stent 512where wall thickness will be measured. The programmer also identifies anopen area of stent 512 immediately adjacent to the area of stent 512being measured. In operation the system first scans the image of stent512 by rotating mandrel 514 under camera 524. The various sites wherewall thickness measurements are to be made are then found on the image.Once the system knows the location of these sites stent 512 is rotatedso that a wall thickness measurement site is positioned directly infront of the measurement transducer.

[0059] As illustrated in the provisional specification, a plurality ofsoftware identifiable patterns 566-574 are selected by the operator todefine the pattern of the stent to be inspected, and thus a process orinspection that can be used to inspect all or part of all the stents, orother parts being inspected, or only a representative sample of suchparts.

[0060] The implementation of the software code for finding the edges ofan object in a scene is well known in the art, as is software forcomparing the found edges of an object in a scene to a known pattern ormodel to determine position and orientation of the found object. Suchsoftware is easily implementable by those of ordinary skill in the artand forms no part of the invention as described in detail herein.

[0061] In this example four distinct patterns 568, 570, 572 and 574 arerequired to create the entire pattern. The operator also selects pattern566 and defines it as the anchor pattern. This pattern will be foundfirst during a program run so it helps if it has more detail anduniqueness than an ordinary pattern. The software then translates whatis essentially a graphic representation of the pattern to a mathematicalor geometric representation of the pattern. Such representations aresymbolized by 576, 578, 580, 582, and 584.

[0062] The output of camera 524 is combined with stage positioninformation and other information (for example, the position of themandrel and the stent on the mandrel) to generate a picture of stent 512on computer monitor 596.

[0063] Once an accurate digital image of the cut tube is rendered, itmust be analyzed. To do this an inspection routine, as alluded to above,must first be created on the system for the particular cut tube that isto be inspected. Since many of these types of parts have highlyrepeating patterns the present invention's repetitive computerizedmeasurement is particularly effective on a plurality of parts that havethese common features. When a new part is first scanned into the system,the operator uses the mouse to bound an area that represents a pattern.The operator continues to do this until all the patterns that define theshape of stent 512 are so defined.

[0064] Once the patterns are defined the operator looks at each patternon computer monitor 596 and decides where to put virtual measurementtools. Dragging the cursor across a representation of the area of stent512 where a measurement is desired will create a measurement tool atthat location. Also the operator can define certain pattern fitparameters and image analysis parameters to determine if any cosmeticdefects exist on stent 512. The operator will define one of the taughtpatterns to be the “anchor” pattern. The anchor pattern is the one thatis searched for first during a program run on a particular part. Allother patterns will be located with reference to the anchor pattern.

[0065] Next the operator will activate the teach function of thesoftware. This function will first locate the anchor pattern usingpattern recognition technologies well known in the industry.

[0066] Once the system locates the anchor pattern, the software looks atan area immediately adjacent to the anchor pattern and tries to make thebest pattern fit it can from the set of taught patterns. Once it makesthe best fit it can on a pattern next to the anchor pattern it continueson in an iterative fashion fitting patterns onto the image until allareas of the image have been associated with one of the taught patterns.The process starts from the anchor pattern and spreads across the entireimage.

[0067] After the program defines all repeats of all patterns, all themeasurement locations are marked and the virtual measurement tools areplaced in positions replicating the operator's input previously inputinto the system as described above and the system automatically createsa map of the tool locations.

[0068] Each found pattern and each location is given a name and storedin a database. The results of this database are displayed on the screenin a grid or worksheet format similar to Microsoft Excel.

[0069] In the inspection process run mode, a part is placed on mandrel514 and a scan of the part is made to generate an image of the part.After the image is collected, the system will search the image for theanchor pattern. Once found, the system will place the appropriatemeasurement tools, as determined above by the operator, on the image ofstent 512. The system will automatically continue to place patterns inexactly the same order they were determined from the teach. All patternsare found and all tools are then placed in the appropriate places oneach found pattern.

[0070] Because these cut tubes tend to be flexible the visionmeasurement tools in the present invention have a unique functionalityto accommodate this flexibility. On relatively straight sections of thetube features a “fit-to-straight” parameter is set on the measurementtool. This parameter creates a linear array of some set number of toolsparallel to the one placed by the operator.

[0071] Subsequently, during implementation of the inspection process,best fit least squares regression line is placed through the edges foundby the linear array of measurement tools and the tool that wasoriginally placed on the pattern is rotated so that it is exactly atright angles to the line, defined by the object under inspection, foundby the linear array of tools. This makes certain the tool alwaysmeasures directly across a straight cut section of tube.

[0072] On curved sections the present invention uses a similar strategy,placing two additional tools on either side of the tool originallyselected by the operator. With three tools finding three points, aradius can be established. The original tool can then be oriented sothat it crosses a curved part feature on a line directly pointingtowards the center of radius of that curved feature. This parameter iscalled “fit-to-curve.”

[0073] To program the inspection of a particular stent 512 an operatorselects a pattern and defines the locations on that pattern where toolsare to be placed. FIG. 9a shows a video caliper tool 586. Two arrows 588are used to indicate the found edges of a feature that is beingmeasured. FIG. 9b shows a number of locations where an operator wouldplace these video caliper tools 586 on a pattern 570, where measurementsare to be made. FIG. 9c shows a returned pattern 580 from an actualstent 512 under test. It is noted that video caliper tools 586 no longerline up exactly with the found pattern because the found pattern isdistorted when compared to the trained pattern. FIG. 9d shows videocaliper tools 586 realigned to the individual pattern features bycomputer 564.

[0074] When the program is created, the first step of teaching stent 512to the system is to find an anchor pattern. FIG. 10 shows an anchorpattern 576 being found on the image of stent 512. Once anchor pattern576 is found the system looks for pattern matches in the neighborhood ofanchor pattern 576 on the image. FIG. 11 shows a number of such patterns580, 582 being found on the image of stent 512. FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 showthat the system continues to match patterns in an increasing fan outprogression throughout the image until all areas of the image are bestfit to patterns.

[0075] To generate the image, FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of the systemoperation. Rotary stage 518 is outfitted with an encoder to accuratelytrack the position of rotary stage 518 to within 1/1000 of a degree. Amotion control board supplied by Technology 80 Co. of Minneapolis Minn.,reads the electrical signal of this encoder. Motion control board 590 islocated within a computer 564 with a motherboard and Pentiummicroprocessor supplied by Intel Corporation. Computer 564 controls theoperation of the above hardware including the stages and lighting so asto create an image of stent 12 being inspected. A motion control card590 of the type similar to the Model 12 made by Bitflow of Woburn, Mass.within computer 564 issues a command to move rotary motor 517 containedwithin a rotary stage 518. The same card 590 will then receive a signalfrom the encoder within rotary motor 517. After an appropriate number ofencoder counts have been received by this board a trigger signal is sentto an image capture card 592 which in turn signals camera 524 to acquirea line of data. The lines of camera data are received by image capturecard 592 and transferred to the memory of computer 564. The images areprocessed and displayed on a monitor 596. This image capture card 592 isthe Road Runner model and is supplied by the Bitflow Corporation ofWoburn, Mass. Every time camera 524 receives a trigger signal a singleline of 6000×1 pixels is read into image capture card 592. A flat imageof the round part under inspection is thus built up this way in aline-by-line fashion. Creating an image like this is similar to removingthe label from a can of soup and laying it flat.

[0076] The operation, programming and use of motion control card 590 andimage capture card 592 are well known to those of ordinary skill in theart and form no part of the subject invention.

[0077] While illustrative embodiments of the invention have beendescribed, it is, of course, understood that various modifications ofthe invention will be obvious from the above to those of ordinary skillin the art. Such modifications are within the spirit and scope of theinvention which is limited and defined by the appended claims.

I Claim:
 1. An automatic system for inspecting stents and otherprecision cut tubes comprising: (A) a electronic camera comprising alens and at least one photodetector; (i) said lens configured anddimensioned for focusing an image of a precision cut tube on said atleast one photodetector; (B) a rotary stage; (C) a mandrel disposed onsaid rotary stage, said mandrel being dimensioned and configured toaccept a precision cut tube to be inspected by said camera; (i) saidrotary stage positioned such that said mandrel is in the field of viewof said lens; (D) a computer based electronic imaging system,functionally connected to said camera, that creates a line-by-line imageof said tube as said tube rotates on said mandrel under said camera; and(E) a light source to provide necessary illumination to create saidimage.
 2. An automatic inspection system as in claim 1 wherein saidelectronic camera is a linear array camera.
 3. An automatic inspectionsystem as in claim 1 wherein said mandrel is made of a translucentmaterial.
 4. An automatic inspection system as in claim 1 wherein saidrotary stage is motor driven.
 5. An automatic inspection system as inclaim 1 further comprising an encoder; (A) said encoder is functionallyconnected to said rotary stage and said computer system; (B) saidencoder creates pulses as said rotary stage rotates; (C) said pulses aretransferred to and counted by said computer system; and (D) saidcomputer uses said pulses to precisely trigger a line-by-line creationof an image of said tube as said tube rotates under said camera.
 6. Anautomatic inspection system as in claim 1 whereby said computer basedelectronic imaging system analyzes said image and determines theconformance of said tube to a known dimensional tolerance.
 7. Anautomatic inspection system as in claim 1 whereby said computer basedelectronic imaging system further analyzes said image for cosmetic andfunctional defects in said tube.
 8. An illumination system forinspecting stents and other precision cut tubes comprising: (A) atranslucent mandrel; and (B) a substantially linear light sourcedisposed substantially along the length of said mandrel, such that lightemitted from said linear light source is directed through said mandrelin the direction of an imaging lens.
 9. An illumination system as inclaim 8 wherein said linear light source is a fiber optic light line.10. An illumination system as in claim 8 wherein said linear lightsource is an array of light emitting diodes.
 11. An illumination systemas described in claim 8, further comprising a condenser lens disposedbetween said light source and said mandrel that collects light from saidlight source and focus said light substantially in a linear patternalong the length of said mandrel
 12. An illumination system forinspecting stents and other precision cut tubes comprising: (A) atranslucent mandrel upon which a precision cut tube is mounted; (B) alight source; (C) a condenser lens disposed between said light sourceand said mandrel that collects the light from said light source andfocus said light substantially in a linear pattern along the length ofsaid mandrel; and (D) said light emitted from said light source isdirected through said mandrel in the direction of an imaging lens. 13.An illumination system as described in claim 12, whereby said condenserlens provides a substantially collimated plane of light directed towardssaid translucent mandrel.
 14. A method for measuring wall thickness of atube comprising: (A) Disposing at least two electronic linear positiondisplacement transducers directly opposing each other and centered aboutsaid tube placed on a rod; (B) said transducers contacting and exertingpressure on the wall of said tube; and (C) calculating the average wallthickness of the tube by taking one half the absolute difference betweenthe displacements of said transducers when each is in contact with saidrod compared to the displacements of the transducers when each is incontact with said tube.
 15. A method for measuring wall thickness asdescribed in claim 14 wherein said measuring transducers are mounted ona single axis stage in line with said cut tube being inspected allowingfor measurements at any location along said cut tube.
 16. A method formeasuring wall thickness as described in claim 14 further comprising anoptical magnification system utilizing a visualization apparatus toallow an operator to visualize said tube walls that are being contacted.17. A method for measuring wall thickness as described in claim 16wherein said visualization apparatus is an eyepiece.
 18. A method formeasuring wall thickness as described in claim 16 wherein saidvisualization apparatus is a video monitor.
 19. A method for measuringwall thickness as described in claim 15 further comprising an automatedmotion control system that will automatically drive said two electroniclinear displacement transducers on said single axis stage to sitesselected by an operator in an automatic inspection program.
 20. A methodfor measuring wall thickness as described in claim 15 wherein: (D) Saidat least two electronic linear position displacement transducersdirectly opposing each other and centered about said tube disposed onsaid rod; (E) said transducers contacting and exerting pressure on thewall of said tube; (F) at least one transducer comprising a contact tiplarger than the typical size of a cut feature on said tube; and (G) atleast one transducer comprising a contact tip as small or smaller thanthe typical size of a cut feature on said tube.
 21. A method formeasuring wall thickness as described in claim 14 wherein: at least onetransducer comprising a tip as small or smaller than the typical size ofa cut feature, and contacting said tube; at least one opposingtransducer with a tip larger then the typical size of a cut feature, andlinearly shifted along the axis of said tube and pressing against saidmandrel, referencing the outer diameter of said tube; calculating thedifference in transducer displacements of said smaller tipped and saidlarger tipped transducer measurements which is the thickness of saidwall contacted by said smaller tipped transducer.
 22. A method as inclaim 21 further comprising an automated motion control system that willautomatically drive said at least two electronic linear displacementtransducers on said single axis stage to sites preselected by anoperator in an automatic inspection program.
 23. An illumination systemfor illuminating a section of a cut tube comprising: (A) a rectangulardiffusive light source that creates a highly even illumination along thelength of said cut tube; (i) said rectangular diffuse light source beingat least as long as said cut tube and at least as wide as said cut tube;(ii) a bottom edge of said light source is disposed along the length ofsaid cut tube; (iii) said light source being positioned in closeproximity to said tube being illuminated; (iv) said rectangulardiffusive light source is positioned in a plane parallel to the planeformed by a line along the centerline of the length of said cut tube andthe centerline of an optical axis of a camera looking down on said cuttube.
 24. An illumination system as in claim 23 wherein the width ofsaid diffuse light source is two to ten times the diameter of said tube.25. An illumination system as described in claim 23 further comprising asecond rectangular diffusive light source to illuminate portions of saidtube not illuminated by a first light source, said second diffuse lightsource disposed parallel to and directly facing said first light sourcewith said tube directly between said first and said second lightsources.
 26. An illuminator as described in claim 23 wherein said camerais a linear array camera and said camera is viewing an area of said cuttube that is being illuminated by said light source; said camera beingdisposed such that its center of focus is away from the centerline ofthe cut tube so as to create an electronic image of said cut tube thatincludes both surface features of the cut tube and sidewall views. 27.An illuminator as described in claim 23 further comprising an opticalbeamsplitter disposed between said camera and said cut tube; saidbeamsplitter is at least as long as the section of said tube that isbeing viewed by said camera; said beamsplitter is disposed so as todirect light from said light source onto said tube so as to evenlyilluminated the length of said tube at its apogee.
 28. A method forsoftware based image analysis comprising: (A) selecting a recurringpattern set in an image; (B) selecting one pattern within said patternset as an anchor pattern; (C) setting vision tools at specific locationswithin said image; (D) software finding the anchoring pattern on saidimage; (E) software iteratively examining areas adjacent to said anchorpattern until all areas of said image are examined.,
 29. A method forsoftware based image analysis system as in claim 28 wherein said visiontool makes measurements.
 30. A method for software based image analysissystem as in claim 28 wherein said vision tool finds defects.
 31. Amethod for software based image analysis system as in claim 28 wherebyat each location of each found pattern within said image said selectedvision tool for that pattern is applied; results of all applied visiontools are tabulated in a database.
 32. A software based image analysissystem as in claim 28 further comprising: (F) the location of each foundpattern and associated vision tool being graphically displayed byoverlaying said found pattern or tool directly on said image beinganalyzed.
 33. A software based image analysis system as in claim 28whereby: after said vision tools are placed in a position by saidoperator, said software can automatically optimize said placed visiontools' orientation on said found image based on the overall match fit ofsaid found pattern to the analyzed section of said image.
 34. A meansfor measuring the thickness of a tube wall comprising: (A) mounting acut tube onto a rigid rod; (B) moving at least two contact tips intocontact with said tube; (C) imaging said tips with an optical systemwhen said tips are in contact with said cut tube; and (D) converting theoptical image into a measurement.
 35. A means for measuring thethickness of a tube wall as in claim 34 wherein said contact tips arebrought into contact with said tube from opposing sides of said tube.36. A measuring system as described in claim 34 wherein said opticalsystem is a video camera.
 37. A measuring system as in claim 34 furthercomprising cross-hairs on the video screen; said cross hairs beingaligned with features on said contact tips; the distance between thesefeatures as defined by the disposition of said crosshair indicates saidwall thickness when the diameter of the rigid rod and length of the tipsare accounted for.
 38. A measuring system as in claim 34 furthercomprising a computer to analyze said image and calculate said wallthickness.
 39. A measuring system as in claim 34 whereby at least one ofsaid contact tips has a fine point.
 40. A measuring system as describedin claim 34 wherein two successive wall thickness measurements aretaken; One measurement taken with said tip in contact with said rigidrod, while said fine tip is in contact with said tube wall; The othermeasurement taken with said tip in contact with said rigid rod, whilesaid fine tip is in contact with said tube wall feature; The differencebetween these two measurements gives the thickness of a specificfeature.
 41. A measuring system as in claim 40 wherein said opticalsystem used for imaging the tips is a video camera.
 42. A measuringsystem as in claim 40 further comprising cross-hairs on a video screen;said cross hairs being aligned with features on said contact tips; thedistance between these features as defined by the disposition of saidcrosshair indicates said wall thickness when the diameter of the rigidrod and length of the tips are accounted for.
 43. A measuring system asin claim 40 further comprising a computer to analyze the image andcalculate said wall thickness.